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That is not really a good idea to let 13 year olds work like everyone else.

I knew what I was going to get into since 8th grade

The only problem with 13 year olds working now is that there's a mindset that screams "child labour", etc. I'm not saying change how the workforce works (though I feel that's somewhat flawed as well), I'm saying if 13 y.o's could work 100 years ago, then 13 y.o's now should ideally have learned enough to know what they want to do. If you knew what you wanted to do in 8th grade, that's just further proof to support the concept.

In the so-called "first world", the school system just babies people who shouldn't be babied. You stopped being a baby at the age of 5, now you're a child. You stopped being a child at the age of 13, so pick up some goddamn responsibility and stop *****ing about the newest iPhone.

I'm using 13 as an example, but I personally think it's a good age that people should start learning how to be responsible, and not just with their new iPad/Macbook/iPod/iPhone/****YOUAPPLE, but with their future.

I went to a school that did let you focus in on certain areas, at least after 9th grade (college prep school). Although we still had to complete a set of requirements, it was a private school, so you were given a pretty good choice of classes.
I took many architecture, geometry, physics, and design courses to complete my requirements because I was almost certain that I wanted to go into architecture.

Despite getting a pretty thorough introduction to the subject, I began to realize in college that there were many advanced aspects of the subject that I did not want to do for the rest of my life. Had I not taken other general education courses, I would have had absolutely no real alternatives. It's kind of a double sided sword there. If all we do is give geneds, we make it difficult for students to decide what they want to do. If we force some form of specialization early on in high school, we don't give them any alternatives and will end up with quite a few uninterested workers. I don't want a doctor who dislikes his job operating on me, and I don't want to drive on bridges designed by disgruntled engineers. I also don't want to live in a world where people think any college degree will net a job, because that just leaves us with a bunch of creative-writers, philosophers, and poets. There has to be some balance.

Allowing students to gradually move into a field introduction is a good thing, but forcing them to make a "trade" decision is an awful idea. Despite what we say about "babying" them, teenagers really are still developing, and asking a 13-16 year old to make a relatively permanent life decision will not work out in most scenarios.

Good point. I'll agree that not everyone will know what they want to do (some people might be torn between two completely different fields, I've known people like that). I still do think that "high school" should work more like post-secondary rather than elementary.